Uneven turf a concern for some Blue Jays

TORONTO — The turf came free of charge and it got good reviews from the Toronto Blue Jays last year.

So perhaps the kinks will soon be ironed out. After the first three games of the new season in the Rogers Centre, Jays players and coaches were muttering about the condition of the year-old AstroTurf.

After Friday night’s opener, first baseman Adam Lind said the area he patrols is full of “valleys and mountains on a miniature scale.” A returning coach, who requested anonymity, said the condition of the turf is “the worst I’ve ever seen it.”

The turf, which was installed after a motocross event last week, comes in long rolls. In some areas, the seams are not tightly closed and the surface contains soft and hard spots, the complainants said.

Club president Paul Beeston, who also serves as chief operating officer for the Rogers Centre, said he was surprised when a reporter told him of the complaints.

“We’ll look right into it,” he said. “We want it to be right.”

Beeston also confirmed that the Jays didn’t have to pay for the baseball turf. It came free as part of a promotion the AstroTurf company arranged with Major League Baseball last year.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who play under a dome at Tropicana Field, also received free turf this season under the same deal. FieldTurf, which supplied the previous synthetic surface for both the Jays and Rays, refused the MLB licensing offer that AstroTurf accepted, the St. Petersburg Times reported in February.

But Beeston said the Rogers Centre incurred substantial costs because of the extra turf needed to reconfigure the stadium for football.

The turf is rolled up and stored to make way for other events, then re-installed for baseball and football.

Last year the grounds crew drew praise from the Jays for keeping the seams tight and the surface level.

On Friday night, speedy leadoff batter Rajai Davis twisted his ankle while planting it in the turf as he evaded a rundown after a pickoff at first base. He missed the next two games.

Both Davis and manager John Farrell stopped short of blaming the injury on turf. Farrell was asked whether Davis might have played Sunday on a grass field.

“I don’t know whether he would have turned his ankle if it was dirt that he was changing directions in, whether there might have been a little bit more give,” Farrell said. “Regardless of the surface, I think it’s just another day too early to get him back in there.”

Second baseman Aaron Hill said his territory plays well, as it did last year.

“In my area, I haven’t noticed anything,” he said.

Lind, who is playing first base for the first time in the major leagues, said balls in that vicinity take unpredictable hops.

“Hopefully, we can learn it and make it an advantage against other teams that come in here,” he said.